I'm Going to Lose Votes in 3...2...1...

Yesterday, on my drive home from work I was listening to NPR. It was a piece on Affirmative Action being voted down in some University in the Midwest, I want to say Michigan but I don't remember now. Thinking about it just made me remember how much I dislike Affirmative Action, so I figured I'd tell everyone why.

Affirmative Action is racist, and we will never be able to get past racism with it in effect. In itself it promotes the stereotype of inequality due to your skin color. What is more racist than saying, "Oh well, see, you're black/Hispanic/native American, so you can't do this on your own, we need to pass a law that will guarantee you a position at work or in school"?

One of the proponets of Affirmative Action said, "You see affirmative action guarantees that black people will get into the school, as they traditionally have lower test scores than others that apply. Not only will fewer get in, but fewer will apply thinking they are unwelcome!"

If you won't apply to a school because there's no law guaranteeing you a spot in a school, then you have a serious issue. And if groups of people have lower test scores, you are not fixing that problem by giving them a crutch to get in to school. You need to look at the root of the problem and fix it there. Instead of saying, "You got bad scores, here's a law that will make you get in anyways!" say, "Why are these people getting bad scores in Middle and High Schools? Are the teachers of poor quality, or the schools, or the home environment? Let us fix it there!"

Not only does affirmative action promote the views of inequality in minorities, but it also belittles people who do make the grade/interview to get a job. How is it, in a country of freedom and equality that someone who is more qualified loses a job to someone who is less qualified because they didn't meet their quota? Not only does that hurt the person who lost the job, but it hurts the company for paying the same wages to a less qualified employee who is (very likely) unable to fully perform their job functions, and it also hurts the person who got a job just because they were black/native American/Hispanic. How can you be proud of yourself by not getting a job on your own merits?

I believe that if a company begins only hiring white people, and minorities that are perfectly well qualified are turned down, it will be a problem that fixes itself. When companies are thought to be discriminatory in such a fashion, they lose business and support from almost everyone. When Al Sharpton says that Cracker Barrel is racist, people will stop going there and it will hurt their business. And if they are fine with that growing isolation, it is their own fault and their own loss. Why would you want to work for a company like that anyways?

Now, saying all that I believe that Affirmative Action was needed when it was passed. We had just come out of the civil rights movement, and there was a need to force people to get in line. But that time has passed. Racism then was publicly acceptable, these days it will only bring you public condemnation.

The hypocrisy of racism bothers me extremely, to no end. I don't understand why as a white male I am now the enemy of my country. I am not a "White Power" "KKK Is the WAY!" kind of person, it makes me want to vomit. But I don't understand why it is ok for there to be an all black school, or scholarship that is only applicable to black people, but then if you flip the coin and have a school where only white people are allowed, or a White Only scholarship you are immediately trampled on.

Equality should not have an Asterisk above it with a foot note saying, "Equality only applicable in certain situations and conditions, certain terms may apply." Equality is just that, equality. Fairness and evenness, I will never hate someone for their skin or cultural background.

I will however judge you on your actions and your ideas, and if those include hurting me or my family, my country, or my friends, I will hate you equally no matter who you are. And if you are a friend, you are a friend, not my middle eastern, black, or native American friend, just my friend.